Microtubule reorganization as a response to realization of no (II) signals in plant cell

Yemets A.I., Krasylenko Yu.A., Sheremet Ya.A., Blume Ya.B.

Effects of exogenic NO donor, sodium nitroprusside, on orientation and organization of cortical microtubules in Arabidopsis thaliana root cells that express GFP-MAP4 were studied in vivo. It was found that sodium nitroprusside treatment (10–500 μM, 24 h) caused the acceleration of primary root growth and enhanced initiation of root hairs in differentiation zone. The influence of sodium nitroprusside revealed in alterations of cortical microtubules orientation and organization in different types of cells of A. thaliana root. The most sensitive to sodium nitroprusside exposure were microtubules in epidermal cells of elongation zone where native transverse orientation of cortical microtubules turned into random, oblique or longitudinal relative to the primary root axis. We suppose that NO as one of the intracellular secondary messengers triggers cells differentiation by cortical microtubules reorientation possibly via tubulin nitrotyrosination.